Legend of Spyro: Looking to the Future
by lazerwolf96
Summary: Spyro and Cynder's first clutch of eggs hatch. Each young one faces a difficult choice. Romance between Spyro and Cynder blossoms and dies, but can it grow again?
1. Chapter 1: Suspense

**Chapter 1**

Cynder watched the three small eggs sitting on the plinth in the room Spyro's friend Sparx had christened "the Creepy Dragon Room", with a worried look on her face. They were hers and they were late in hatching. As she watched Spyro came up behind her and gently nuzzled her neck.

'They'll be fine,' he murmured in her ear. 'Just give them time and they _will_ hatch.'

She smiled sadly. 'I hope you're right,' she said, turning and putting her cheek against his.

Suddenly, a sharp sound split the air. They turned to see the black egg give a little shiver as a crack appeared in its side. Cynder clutched Spyro's tail with hers in surprise. The egg exploded into thousands of shards of black shell, and a tiny dragoness with red eyes and a black body sat on the plinth, shivering and then, spotting Cynder, opening her tiny black wings with a delicate red membrane, opened her mouth and cried for food.

As she did this, the blue egg was slowly rocking back and forth, eventually toppling over and breaking to show a tiny blue dragon with curious markings on his legs and back, in the shape of a star. The point on his tail was like a large shuriken star. His eyes were a harsh, ice-blue. He sat up, shaking his head, curled up and promptly fell asleep.

The red egg soon broke to reveal a dark red dragoness with large wings and a thin orange membrane, bright green eyes like her mother, and a short temper.

'They're beautiful,' breathed Cynder.

'They're the first dragons to be born since the last Year of the Dragon,' a baritone voice said from behind the young couple. They turned and found the Earth Guardian and Elder Terrador looking at them.

'What should we call them?' asked Spyro.

Cynder smiled. 'I think this one,' touching the black and red dragoness, 'should be called … Lunar, in honour of the time she was born,' said Cynder, looking out the window at the full moon. She smiled at Spyro. You can name the blue one and we'll name the red one together.'

Spyro nodded. 'That's fair. Ummm... He should be called… Mithura.' Cynder smiled again and nodded.

'I think we should call the red one Tyraidor,' said Cynder. Spyro beamed, nuzzling her affectionately.

'How do you come up with these names?' he asked her. She only laughed in reply.

Terrador cleared his throat. 'They will need to start training in the next few years,' he growled. The young couple looked at him, then at each other, smiling.

Lunar and Tyraidor began to scuffle on the plinth, nipping each other on the legs and neck and nearly knocking their brother off the plinth. He glared at them out of the corner of his eye and spat an ice-shard at them.

Terrador stepped forward. 'Well, now we know what element he is. Hand him over to Cyril as soon as-'

'Give them time to grow older before the training begins. At LEAST six months old,' Cynder berated him.

'All right, all right,' he growled. 'Just hand them over to the correct Guardian when you see fit.'

'We will,' Spyro agreed. 'We promise.'

**Autor's note:** This is my first FanFic published so constructive criticism is welcome. Keep an eye on this page as I will be updating soon.


	2. Chapter 2: Something's wrong

**Chapter 2**

'Bye Mom!' Mithura called as he ran to Cyril for his daily training routine. 'I'll be back by eight!'

Tyraidor giggled and flapped her wings. 'Bet I'll get to the training grounds before you!' she laughed. Even though she was the youngest she was the only one who could fly as of yet. Suddenly, she remembered something and turned to Cynder. 'Oh yeah, Mom?'

'Yeah?'

'I'm nearly finished perfecting my Fear screech, listen!' She drew a deep breath and let out a blood-chilling shriek.

Cynder pretended to mock her. 'Call that a Fear screech? Hah! Pathetic! Watch this!' Cynder opened her mouth, arched her back and screamed so loudly and so terrifyingly that birds refused to go near the Temple for about a year afterwards. 'You just have to arch your back and sort of stretch the corners of your mouth and I'm sure you'll get it.'

Tyraidor nodded. 'Thanks, Mom!'

She turned and flew after her brother, laughing, 'I'll get you!'

Lunar scowled. 'Why do they both have elements and I don't?' she scowled, for the billionth and fourth time in her six-month-long life. Spyro just threw her a look over his shoulder that said, _Don't annoy us with such trivial things._ She sighed and curled up sulkily. 'I bet I'm the only dragon on earth who doesn't have an element,' she thought to herself.

Suddenly, she had an idea. 'Hey Mom, can I see your element attacks?'

Cynder was confused. 'Um, sure, but let's go outside first 'cause I don't want to damage anything.'

XxXxX

'Ok, Lunar, this is Poison.' Cynder narrowed her eyes with concentration and made a hissing noise, deep in her throat. A deep green gas came spilling out of her jaws and killed a nearby rosebush. 'Then there's Wind.'

She stood up on her hind paws and beat at the air with her wings. A large tornado formed and howled, its winds tearing up the grass and flattening Lunar. Cynder walked over to her, laughing, and hauled her to her feet.

'Next, there is Shadow.' She stood again and curled her claws, rotating them, and what looked like a large purple dragon claw came into existence and crushed a wall a few metres away. 'I think you've seen more Fear than you can bear, haven't you?' she grinned. 'Wanna try Shadow. Stand up on your hindquarters and curl your claws like this,' Cynder said, demonstrating.

Lunar stood up and frowned, trying to keep her balance. She eventually managed to stay upright long enough to attempt the claw position. She rotated them, trying to remember what Cynder had done.

'No, like this,' Cynder said, and arranged her paws for her. 'There. Now, I want you to imagine the darkest thing you have ever seen. Focus on it! Let it fill your mind. Now, transfer the dark to your paws. Imagine it is the only thing that exists there, between them. Focus! Now open your eyes and aim.'

Between Lunar's paws was, indeed, a small ball of Shadow. But never as Cynder had seen it before. It was a much darker purple than hers and it radiated something that hers never had. Pure danger.


	3. Chapter 3: A Journey and a Worry

**Chapter 3**

In the dead of the night, Lunar began to prepare for a journey. She planned to head north, to find the alleged Dark Temple where the four Night Guardians resided, teaching young dragons the arts of Poison, Fear, Shadow and Wind.

She ran through a mental checklist. 'Food. A gourd of water. A pouch of gems. And my sharpening stone.' This was something she used to sharpen her claws and teeth. Most young dragons carried one, but as they got older, they became adept at finding good ones in situ.

She took one last look at her chamber, whispered a goodbye to her sleeping sister and brother, and glided out the window. She had mastered this, even though flying was still far out of her grasp as the muscles on her back were not fully developed yet.

She landed clumsily in a dense forest, dislodging several irritated squirrels. There was a full moon in the sky, just like the night she had hatched.

She wondered irritably, and not for the first time, why it had taken her so long to develop her powers and why Cynder had freaked out when she had managed to summon a small ball of darkness. She remembered the expression on her mothers face when she said, rather harshly, 'Get back inside. I don't ever want to see you do that again. Don't ask me to teach you as I am not authorised to.'

Lunar gritted her teeth. She decided she would deliberately flout her mothers' wishes and practice as she journeyed. She stood, as her mother had taught her, on her hind legs, positioned her claws, and concentrated. Almost instantly, a ball of shadow appeared between her claws. She wondered aloud, 'Is this all I can do? Or can I aim it and shoot it?'

As these thoughts passed through her head, it shot from her paws and an elm tree nearby burst into black and purple flames. Suddenly, a feeling of exultation swept through her, and she gathered the power into her mouth instead of between her paws, and screeched as though she were a Fear dragon. It burst from her open jaws and turned a weeping willow into a massive black crystal. _These powers… they're obviously a combination of Mom and Dad's powers, with my own unique twist on them. I wonder what else I'm capable of…_

Suddenly, she laughed. 'I'm definitely going north to the Dark Temple, and I won't ever listen to Mom or Dad again. I'm old enough to make my own decisions, so damn them. The Temple is for wusses like them and Mithura and Tyraidor anyway.' And to confirm this decision, she shot black electricity at a nearby shrub. She climbed the black crystal tree she had made earlier, and found that she could also sculpt things she had made with her mind.

When she got to the top, she jumped, and furiously flapped her wings. Realising she still couldn't fly, she glided instead, reaching the edge of the forest.

She smiled to herself. Something told her this life was going to be better than her old one.

Pity she didn't realise what was waiting for her in the Dark Temple.

XxXxX

'WHERE IS SHE?!?' The screech rent the hallways of the Temple as Cynder rampaged through her offspring's' quarters. 'I AM GOING TO KILL HER WHEN I FIND HER! I WILL PUT HER THROUGH SO MUCH AGONY SHE WILL KNOW HOW I FELT WHEN I WAS HER AGE!!!'

'Now, Cynder,' Spyro said nervously. 'There's no need to get all worked up over nothing, is there?' He turned to Mithura and whispered, '_Is_ there?'

He shook his head. 'No, Dad. Lunar has gone missing, though.' Spyro leaped up in the air in shock.

'WHAT?!' he squeaked. 'WHEN DID YOU LAST SEE HER?'

'At dinner last night. I'm going to search our room. She might have left a note, or taken something that would indicate where she went.' And with that he paced out of the room.

Tyraidor looked worried. 'Daddy?' she whispered. 'I think I know where Lunar went.'

He looked at her in surprise. 'You do?' he asked. 'Where do you think she went?'

'I heard her say it to herself when she came in after hanging with Mom outside last month. She said something about how no-one would find her and she could hone her skills there.' She trailed off, uncertainly.

Spyro clenched his teeth. 'Did she say _where_, exactly?' he asked earnestly.

'S-she said…' Here Tyraidor gulped. 'She said, "I'm going north, and they won't be able to stop me!"'

'Hurkk,' said Spyro in shock.

'Ahem… are you sure? You're absolutely positive?' he asked, once he had composed himself.

'Yeah. And she also said something about…' she thought for a moment. 'Oh! She said something about a… a Dark Temple, I think…' she looked up at him. Stories of the Dark Temple were the stuff of nightmares. 'Is… is it true, Daddy? Could she have actually gone north?'

'Father! Mother!' Mithura shouted. He came thundering down the corridor and screeched to a stop just in front of Spyro. 'I found this on Lunar's pillow!'

Cynder chose that moment to come storming in, steaming mad about her eldest daughter's disappearance. She stomped over to him. 'What have you found?' she yelled, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him until his head bobbled on his neck.

'It's a note from her. Listen: " I am leaving. Don't follow me. I won't be coming back. –Lunar."' He frowned. 'We have to find her. She'll die if she goes north!'

Cynder sat down in shock. 'She's… gone? Just like that? But… why? We were always supportive…'

Spyro twined his tail with hers. She'll be fine,' he reassured her. 'She's independent, she can look after herself.'

Cynder stood, and shook herself slightly. 'I… have to go make… dinner…' And with that she staggered off with a dazed look on her face.

'I'll inform the Guardians,' he confided in his offspring. As he left, he mused aloud, 'They'll have to find someone to replace Ignitus soon… hmmm…'

The two siblings turned to each other. 'What will we do?' whispered Tyraidor.

Mithura sighed. 'I guess there's really nothing we can do,' he murmured.

Tyraidor just stared at her brother, and he looked helplessly back, both of their eyes brimming with tears over a sister who they thought was lost to them forever. Little did they know, she would be the biggest problem in their lives for a long, long time.


	4. Chapter 4: Sickness and anger

**Chapter 4**

Lunar squinted her eyes against the harsh winds of the north, snow swirling around her ankles as she trudged through the dismal environment. She was beginning to regret starting this journey but her determination drove her on, making her impervious to the cold. A black, inner fire burned in her gut, warming her, fuelling her. She needed neither food nor drink as long as that fire was there.

But the fire was dwindling, along with her strength. She wanted to lie down, even just for a moment, and let go of her body. She needed rest, and quickly. Despair welled up inside her, quenching the fire. She fell to her knees, panting, dark power swirling around her, darkening her indigo colour further.

For the first time since starting her two-week journey, she was exhausted. She pulled breath after labourious breath into her lungs, throat stinging from the ice-cold air. She coughed, and dab of red blossomed on the snow, bringing colour into her otherwise dull surroundings. Her throat was raw from the air, her strength was failing, her eyes ached from all the white and nothing else, her limbs stopped moving, and she collapsed onto the snow. The last thing she saw was the silhouette of a dragon flying towards her, through the never-ending, blinding, freezing snow.

XxXxX

When she next woke up, she was lying in a cave next a fire with a thick slice of meat lying beside her nose. Her tongue snaked out of her mouth and gave the meat a tentative lick. It tasted ok, so she pushed herself onto her haunches to get a proper bite. Before she could, though, a gentle paw pushed her back into a lying position.

'Stay down,' a gentle voice said. 'You need rest after that little journey you took through the Wastelands. You were suffering from exhaustion, frostbite and hunger.'

'Wh-where am I?' Lunar rasped, her throat still sore from the harshly cold air of the North. 'Who are you? Why did you save me?'

The paw shut her mouth, and the voice said, 'Your throat is still raw, so don't talk. I am Elemnestra, but you can call me Elm.'

Lunar looked up at her rescuer, and saw a small golden dragon with blue eyes. She had ram horns on her head and a diamond-shaped blade on her tail. She grinned at Lunar. 'Where are you going?' she asked.

'I- I'm going...' Here Lunar paused to cough and hack. Elm waited patiently until her charge had stopped, then nodded encouragingly. Lunar began again. 'I'm going to the northern Dark Temple. Do you know where it is? If so, can you lead me?'

Elm's eyes widened in horror. 'The – Dark Temple? D-Did you say the Dark Temple?'

Lunar nodded. 'Are you insane?' Elm squeaked. 'Are you suicidal? YOU CAN NEVER COME OUT AGAIN IF YOU GO IN!'

Lunar back-pedalled a few paces. This dragon's a little bit loopy, she decided. I should avoid annoying her.

XxXxX

Cynder sat, head in paws, on the battlements at the top of the Temple. Sobs racked her body and her slender shoulders shook, her wing-tips rattling on the stone paving. 'I shouldn't have been so hard on her,' she whispered to herself. She looked at the crumpled piece of parchment in her paw, the note Lunar had left, and broke down into fresh sobs. 'My own daughter hates me. How long before the other two follow? How long before Spyro...?' She collapsed on the pavings, unable to finish the thought or control her own emotions.

Several hours later, after several hundred similar thoughts, Spyro passed on his patrol of the Temple grounds. He had started doing these soon after Lunar's disappearance. He told people it was so he could see straight away if she returned, but it was really so he could get away from the sense of despair around the Temple since then.

He spotted Cynder, and walked up behind her silently. He was about to call her name, when she turned and lashed out, her claws raking a groove in his cheek. Her paws went to her mouth when she realised who it was she had nearly de-eyed. Is that a word, she wondered to herself. Then she remembered Spyro and immediately fell on him with apologies and hugs. He fended her off good-naturedly with a paw, and then he looked her in the eyes. They were very ernest, very purple and full of worry.

'Cynder,' he said. 'Are you listening to me?' She nodded. 'Good. I think we should have a chat. I know you feel responsible for Lunar's disappearance but it was her own decision. She wanted to leave, and I think if we had tried to stop her, it just would have made her even more determined to leave. So stop blaming yourself before you drive yourself - ' Here Cynder lashed out again, striking him in the chest. He staggered from the weight of the blow, righted himself, and went down again under the fury of Cynder. She scratched and bit, hissing and screaming.

'You would never understand!' she screeched. 'You barely ever contributed to the raising of our offspring! You don't even know their middle names! You don't understand what they're going through!' As these harsh accusations reached his ears, Spyro decided he had had enough. He knocked her aside, sending her skidding over the paving of the battlements.

'ENOUGH!' he roared. 'I am sick and tired of this pity-me act, Cynder, and so is the rest of this Temple!' Cynder just gazed at him in shock. Her green eyes were wide with shock. A long pause followed this statement.

Eventually, and very quietly, he murmered, 'I don't want to fight you again, Cynder.'

He angrily brushed at the crner of his eye, and walked away. Cynder looked after him, her eyes, which had previously been full of anger and self-resentment, were now filled with tears. She stood up. I'm going to find my daughter, she thought. And nothing is going to stop me.


	5. Chapter 5: Disappearance

**Chapter 5**

Cynder packed a few provisions in a small leg-pouch, keeping an eye on the sleeping form of Spyro. He mumbled quietly in his sleep, turning over and settled down again. She smiled softly.

They hadn't spoken in the three days since their arguement, maintaining a stony silence as she quietly prepared for her secret journey. The Guardians had known better than to ask questions when they sat at different tables at meal-times, meetings and generally stayed away from each other. They didn't even sleep in the same chamber any more.

She looked once more at Spyro, longingly, lovingly. Then she turned, ran and leaped out the window, spreading her wings to catch the small draft, gliding over the same forest Lunar had so long ago. She lighted down in the forest. When she lit a small fire, it reflected of something large nearby. Something large, branching and purpley-black. She walked over to it, sniffing. She frowned.

Lunar had been here. She just knew it.

XxXxX

Spyro awoke to find he had a crick in his neck and the window wide open. He opened his eyes and looked around. He could smell Cynder had been here, and recently. He leaped to his feet and ran to the chamber downstairs where she had been staying as of late. It was empty, and she hadn't been there since yesterday, judging by the untouched bed. He dropped to his knees.

'No,' he whispered. 'No, Cynder. Why have you done this to me?' He collapsed on the floor, sobbing. After about fifteen minutes, he pulled himself together. He leaped out the window and caught a draft, gliding down to the "Creepy Dragon Room". He burst in, startling the Guardians from their meeting on where to find a dragon suitable for the job of Fire Guardian. Terrador stood up. 'Spyro, what's wrong?' he boomed.

'Ye-es, quite, my good fellow,' added Cyril in his British accent.

'Pray enlighten us, old comrade,' bleated Volteer.

Spyro drew back his head, the full implication finally hitting him. 'Cynder's missing as well!' he exploded suddenly. Fending off the elderly dragons' exclamations of 'what?', 'excuse me?' and 'eh?' he burst out with, 'She probably left last night, there was a full moon and she's been acting weirdly recently...'

Here he trailed off, looking at the Guardian's serious faces. Terrador bowed his head. 'I expected as much,' he thought to himself. Aloud, he said, 'Well, Spyro, you know it was coming, she'll be back soon-'

'NO SHE WON'T!' howled Spyro. 'SHE'S BEEN ANGRY EVER SINCE LUNAR DISAPPEARED, THIS WAS BOUND TO HAPPEN-'

Here he broke off as Terrador gave him a hefty smack on the head with his paw. 'Get a grip, will you,' he said irritably. He then turned to the other Guardians. 'Now, regarding the Fire Guardian problem...'

He didn't even have to look around to know that Spyro was going to start yelling again, so he just said, 'Cynder's a fully grown dragon, she can make her own decisions. She's not a baby. As you insist on treating her,' he added cruelly.

At that, Tyraidor and Mithura burst in. 'Dad! Mom's-'

Spyro turned to them. His normally lilac eyes were bloodshot and swimming with tears. But there was an angry scowl on his face, and determination as well as misery in his eyes.

'I'm going to-'

'Don't you dare,' snarled Tyraidor menacingly. 'We need you to stay here. You're the only thing we have left of our family.' Here her eyes filled with tears. Mithura picked up where she had left off.

'Dad, we need you more than Mom does. She's fully grown, and probably angry. Nothing and no-one will mess with her when she's like that. You would know.'

Spyro had recoiled at these rebuffs, but now he stood up straight. 'Y-you're probably right. But that won't stop me from worrying.' He smiled weakly at his son and daughter.

Then, Terrador turned to Tyraidor. 'Young one, I am going to offer you something, and I will give you two weeks to make your decision.'

Tyraidor tilted her head.'What is it?'

Terrador looked at her gravely. 'Will you become the next Fire Guardian?'

XxXxX

Lunar waited for Elm to fall asleep before she left. She didn't even bother to sneak; she figured that the small golden dragon was a deep sleeper judging from the massive snores issuing from her nose.

She wriggled out of the entrance, looked around, and began to head North once again. She travelled without the landscape changing for many hours, the hunger growing in her stomach, wearing away her concentration and determination.

Suddenly, a dark dot appeared on the horizon. She sped up moving towards it, straining to get there before her strength wore out completely. Her breath came in short gasps, her vision blurred, but still she went on. She felt as if she had always been doing this – walking, starving, searching.

Mere yards from the gates she had striven towards, she collapsed. Here she lay for hours more, just getting her strength back. She struggled to her feet, pushed herself on through sheer willpower. She laid a paw on the gates, but they melted away, leaving her path unimpeded to the gates of the Temple.

Then, she began to walk slowly through the gardens of the place she had almost killed herself to reach.

There were strange things in the garden. Things that reached out at her, snagged at her scales, tried to grab her. She squealed and writhed away, half-sobbing with terror. As she passed the last thing, she reached and passed through the door with a triumphant yell.

As she went in, the doors slammed behind her and she was left in darkness. She gasped involuntarily.

Through the darkness came a smooth, mocking voice. 'Well, well, what have we here? If you want to study with us, you will have to pass the tests.'

**Author's note: Sorry this took so long! I had an extreme case of writers' block. Chapter 6 coming soon!**


	6. Chapter 6: Misery and loneliness

**Chapter 6**

Tyraidor just stared at Terrador, her eyes looking fit to pop out of her head. 'W-What?' she finally managed to gasp.

'You heard me,' Terrador replied irritably. Then he began to speak very slowly. 'You. Fiyah Gahdian. Comprende?' She just continued staring in shock.

Spyro nudged her. 'Thank him for the offer!' he muttered. He gave her a small nudge with his shoulder.

'I, uh... I... Thank you... very generous... hurkk... meep... your kind offer,' she stammered stupidly, inwardly cursing herself for her foolish tone.

Terrador smiled, the wrinkles of age clearly visible around his muzzle and eyes, despite the rough texture of his scales. 'We shall attempt to coach you ask well as we can from Ignitus's old journals. We hope you will consider our offer.'

Spyro beamed. He had never been so proud. But the smile slipped when he remembered that Cynder wasn't here to share his joy. He congratulated his daughter, then, when everyone had wandered off to deal with Templey stuff, he sidestepped over to Cyril. 'Has Mithura mastered the Ice Fury yet?' he whispered conspiratorially.

Cyril smiled. 'He is close. He will be the next Ice Guardian, I think. You're honoured, you know.' Spyro looked up at him, confused. 'You'll be the only dragon who's ever parented two Guardians from the same clutch of eggs. You must be so proud.'

Spyro smiled regretfully. 'Yes, but...'

Cyril nodded sympathetically. '... but you wish Cynder was here to see it? I know how you feel to miss a loved one, but our situations are slightly different.'

Spyro frowned. 'You know?'

The ancient Ice dragon bowed his head. 'I lost my mate to Malefor,' he sighed. 'She was the light of my life. Her name was Glacier and a more beautiful dragon I had never seen before, and never will again. I just wish I could have said goodbye...'

A single, ice-cold tear trickled down his old, scarred cheek and landed on the tiles under his feet.

Right then, Spyro had a vision. There was a purple-black claw, pulling itself out of a deep crater. A shimmering blue dragon with delicate icicle-shaped horns and cool purple wings shuffled over. She reached in to help the owner of the claw. It gripped her frail-looking leg, making deep indents with its sharp claws. A look of shock passed over her face, and a blue-black began to creep along her beautiful azure blue scales. She gasped and tried to pull away, but the claw was too strong for her, it was pulling her closer, turning her, corrupting her...

When the blackness reached the ends of her horns, she looked up. She pulled her leg up, bringing the owner of the claw with her. As the face loomed up in front of her, she bowed her head in a worshipful fashion. She opened her eyes.

They had turned yellow.

Spyro blinked. He was lying in the Infirmary, and there were hushed voices around him. He blinked, his vision blurring. 'What's going on?' he croaked.

He saw something blue move over beside him. 'Are you all right, my boy?' asked Cyril in a concerned voice. 'You collapsed in the middle of our conversation and you've had a fever for a long while now.'

'How – how long have I been ill?' Spyro whispered hoarsely.

Cyril looked grave. 'It's been two weeks. The fever spiked yesterday, and everyone thought you wouldn't make it...' He swallowed. 'You haven't had a turn like that since you defeated Malefor, have you, lad?'

Spyro shook his head weakly. 'Water,' he whispered.

XxXxX

Cynder strode on through the icy waste, following the faint traces of her daughter's scent. The freezing wind howled in her ears, her paws ached from walking on cold, hard ground and her eyes smarted from the tears of lonliness that consumed her. As each tear fell, it became a tiny icicle, a beautiful crystal which fell behind her, leaving a trail. A trail of misery and anger; at herself, her past, and her daughter.

XxXxX

Lunar quaked at the sound of the voice. It was velvety smooth, but softly dangerous. She stared around wildly, the scales on her back bristling like a hedgehog. 'Who's ... who's there?' she called, her voice sounding thin, childlike, lost in the immense blackness that surrounded her. 'W-where are you?'

A chuckle came from behind her. She spun around, but there was nothing there. 'Over here,' a voice called tauntingly from her left.

The voices continued to taunt her, and she spun left and right, trying to find the owners of them. Finally, her courage broke. 'Leave me alone,' she sobbed. 'Go away, go away, GO AWAY!'

'Oh, stop teasing her, Midnight,' came a voice from in front of her. It sounded irritated. A large, middle-aged storm-grey dragon with kindly grey eyes and white, straight horns came out of the blackness. 'There, there, dear,' he said soothingly. 'I'm Tempest. What's your name?'

Lunar wiped her eyes. 'L-Lunar,' she managed to stammer. 'P-please, sir...'

'Oh no, dear, please call me Tempest. I am the Wind Guardian of thisTemple.' His eyes twinkled at her.

She sighed with relief. 'I – I made it,' she said, not able to believe it. 'I made it.'

Just then, an incredibly handsome silver dragon with violet eyes and soft blue wings swaggered into the light. 'If you want to train here, darlin', you're going to have to pass the tests; four in all.' She recognised his voice, it was the velvety one that had scared her so badly. She began to shiver.

'I don't think we should take an apprentice at this time. Remember what happened to the last one?' barked a harsh-sounding dragon, moving forwards into the visible spectrum. He was a deep acid-green colour, with massively curled horns so large he could hardly hold his head up straight, undersized wings and bogey-green eyes.

'Did we ask for your opinion, Mercury?' hissed Midnight. He turned to Lunar again. 'Don't mind him, lil' lady, he's just bad-tempered 'cause he's having a mid-life crisis.' He looked Mercury up and down, then whispered, 'Well, actually, I think it's an end-of-life crisis, but he just won't admit it.'

'I heard that!' the ancient, fossilised dragon shrieked.

'Oh, go stick your head in an acid pool, you old fogey,' snarled another new voice. This one, Lunar noted with surprise, was a female. She stalked into the pool of light as well, flicking her scarlet tail, narrowing her blood-red eyes at Lunar and baring white, pointed fangs. I think she means it to be a smile, thought Lunar. She was getting dizzy with all these new faces, and her exhaustion and hunger weren't helping either. 'Please...' she began, then staggered, her dizziness overwhelming her. The floor spun before her eyes and then rushed up to meet her. Then there was nothing


End file.
